1965? Keller & Guerin, LunÚville, France have a set of six plates illustrating La Fontaine fables. Each is signed "Grotti." $33 for TH and LM from Tori Owen, Ross, CA, through Ebay, February, '01. $49.99 for three from Charlotte Dailey, Texarkana, TX, through eBay, August, '11. Further plates from J. Oliva, Tarzana, CA. I now have all six and extras of LM, WL, and GA. The second copy of GA was broken in shipping.

Each plate offers both a title above the illustration and a key line below it. Each is marked KG with a crown and cartouche in gold. There is also a gold rim around the design of each plate. The plates are remarkable for their colorful illustrations. Click on any small image to see a larger version.

Keller and Guerin Colored Plates

A particularly colorful young female grasshopper plays her violin while the ant in peasant's wooden shoes carries a huge seed past her.

A dapper fox in bow tie holds out a paw to catch the cheese he expects to fall. The crow in snappy hat and vest is holding the cheese firmly in his wing as though it were an arm. A lovely scene!

The rat in this rendition of LM uses a scissors to cut the lion's elaborate net, pegged to the ground in over a dozen places. The lion sits expectantly on all fours.

The frog here carries a parasol and wears both a vest and britches. The ox, sitting in human fashion, looks on amused with his arms crossed.

The sweating tortoise in TH rides a bicycle and wears a rider's cap and sneakers. The hare also rides a bicycle and has goggles above the brim of his cap.

The wolf in WL wears a top hat, vest, and trousers. He carries a hunter's pouch and points menacingly at the lamb, who is dressed in children's clothes. Does the lamb have a toy sailboat in is hands/paws?

There are also two bowls belonging to the same series. Each offers the same signed illustration as its matching plate but as a mirror opposite. From unknown sources for $10 to $15 each.

Here the gold stripe is a filigreed stripe inside the top of the bowl. The rim is also circled in gold.

Keller and Guerin Colored Bowls

The rat in this rendition of LM uses a scissors to cut the lion's elaborate net, pegged to the ground in over a dozen places. The lion sits expectantly on all fours.

The sweating tortoise in TH rides a bicycle and wears a rider's cap and sneakers. The hare also rides a bicycle and has goggles above the brim of his cap.